Friday, September 25, 2009

Pittsburgh breaks out its finest security measures to herald the Dodgers' arrival into town for a four-game series

Jon Garland (11-11, 4.02) vs. Jeff Karstens (3-5, 5.53).

DODGERS MAGIC NUMBERS: 1 to make the postseason; 3 to win the NL West

COMMENTS: The Dodgers' march toward the postseason is getting so intense (a phenomenon foreign to Pirates fans), that increased security detail for the team is in order. Trade imbalances and disparities between bigger economic powers (Dodgers, $100M payroll) and "developing" markets (Pirates, $49M payroll) will definitely be topics for heated discussion over the course of this four-day summit. That, and the fact that one more Dodger victory secures postseason play for our boys in blue.

I'm not anxious like "I'm scared to death we'll get our ass kicked and fall out of contention for the playoffs." More like "I have the day off, have finished my chores, have Sammy on ice, and now am faced with the prospect of doing nothing at all for another 35 minutes because I'm not in the mood to vacuum."

I know, Mr. C. I covered the Kings last season for my blog. The Sharks looked really good, but they were just inept compared to the east-coast teams. Hockey is the only sport where the east coast is truly superior to the west (though Detroit is technically in the Western Conference).

The 'Wings sort of unofficially own the western conference these days. As far as hockey talk, though, I'm just a simple caveman. I'm knowledgeable enough to enjoy the games, but not enough to be a die-hard.

No, it can't. We'll take 'em. Read horror story of all the security the team had to jump thru just to get to the hotel. Late night, tough couple of games...I can sympathize with the lads. Wish I were there tomorrow to cheer them on and yell rude, yet witty remarks at their players and/or fans.